Some people just don't get that this is how we make our living!

[CrazyEight]

The problem is that a lot of people DO do this for a hobby. Certainly not myself, this is my business and we are definitely a 2 income household-we need my pay to pay the bills! I'm part of a facebook group for childcare in my area, though, and there's currently a big thread about whether or not providers are open for the upcoming Easter holidays. Some are saying yes, some no, and then the thread got taken over by 2 providers who said they "only charge when their services are used, parents can call the night before and cancel and they don't have to pay." I commented and asked how they can afford to do this, if it becomes a regular thing. Both answered that they don't need the money, that's it's just a "hobby to give them something to do."

I thought, must be nice!! Now, however, more and more parents seem to think that those of us that have contracts, regular payment schedules, etc, are not being "reasonable". One mother left a snarky comment about how providers shouldn't charge a premium rate for working on holidays, since she's a "working mother trying to make ends meet." But so am I! This mindset that providers are just making a bit of extra cash as a hobby really annoys me.

I agree with Wonderwiper, this parents seems to just think paying late won't matter, as long as she pays a bit extra. Maybe up your late payment fees? By a considerable amount? It's going to be hard to change her thinking though, if she doesn't consider paying late a problem. Would you be ok with an emt? Maybe she hasn't thought of that, and if you offered that as an option to save her the late fee, she might go for it?

[bright sparks]

The problem is that a lot of people DO do this for a hobby. Certainly not myself, this is my business and we are definitely a 2 income household-we need my pay to pay the bills! I'm part of a facebook group for childcare in my area, though, and there's currently a big thread about whether or not providers are open for the upcoming Easter holidays. Some are saying yes, some no, and then the thread got taken over by 2 providers who said they "only charge when their services are used, parents can call the night before and cancel and they don't have to pay." I commented and asked how they can afford to do this, if it becomes a regular thing. Both answered that they don't need the money, that's it's just a "hobby to give them something to do."

I thought, must be nice!! Now, however, more and more parents seem to think that those of us that have contracts, regular payment schedules, etc, are not being "reasonable". One mother left a snarky comment about how providers shouldn't charge a premium rate for working on holidays, since she's a "working mother trying to make ends meet." But so am I! This mindset that providers are just making a bit of extra cash as a hobby really annoys me.

I agree with Wonderwiper, this parents seems to just think paying late won't matter, as long as she pays a bit extra. Maybe up your late payment fees? By a considerable amount? It's going to be hard to change her thinking though, if she doesn't consider paying late a problem. Would you be ok with an emt? Maybe she hasn't thought of that, and if you offered that as an option to save her the late fee, she might go for it?

I think some people need to think before they act and before they speak. Those who say they don't need the money need to check themselves. If they suddenly lost that money they would no longer be able to do their nails, get their hair done and lunch with friends. LOL Obviously there are those of us who do this as a source of income by running a serious business. Others do it for "extra money" and may not budget for their daycare earnings as their other half makes enough to live off. It kind of makes me laugh though as if these particular people pulled their fingers out and put more effort into treating this as a business versus bragging about the amount of free cash they have to throw around, and I know a lot of providers who have this attitude and are in this position, they could make a substantial amount more. It also saddens me that these providers take such a lax attitude towards the role of a daycare provider if its a case of, "Oh well I don't need the money anyway." What else are they laid back about that we do not see?? We bust our balls to offer great care and already have the odds stacked against us so we don't need any kind of lax attitudes towards the industry.

Take control of your business by having a zero tolerance policy for rule breaking of any kind. You will get a lot more respect from the people you deal with and if people pull their face at you then they aren't the type of client you want. Things happen and I use my personal discretion to decide case by case if I will make allowances for human error which for sure happens with ALL of us, but I set the tone from day one to reduce these occurrences.

You need to have people pay you via EMT, although someone with a lax attitude towards payment could still leave you hanging for that and pay late, or take post dated cheques and then if a parent is off sick and cant get to your place, or some other BS excuse like internet is down, there is absolutely no excuse for none payment as the ball is in your court so to speak, as you take the cheque to the bank and pay yourself.